….
The Next Morning.
DING! DONG!
DING! DONG!
DING! DONG!
The doorbell rang persistently, dragging Dabi from sleep.
He groaned, blinking awake. Morning light filtered through the curtains of his apartnt - a modest place, nothing fancy, but comfortable.
He had been up late finishing a stakeout job for Aizawa.
DING! DONG!
"Alright, alright." he muttered, pushing himself out of bed. "I am coming."
He was halfway to the door when a voice ca from behind him.
"Ugh, who the fuck is making that noise?" Rumi's voice was thick with sleep and irritation.
Dabi glanced back.
Rumi was still in bed, the blanket pulled up to her shoulders.
Her white hair was a ss, sticking up at odd angles. One of her ears was flopped over across her face. And the blanket had slipped just enough to show bare shoulders, collarbones, the curve of her upper chest.
She was clearly naked under there.
"It's too early for this shit." she hissed, her voice muffled by sleep and a total lack of morning grace. "Kill them, Dabi. Or I will."
Dabi felt his brain short-circuit for a mont before he forcibly controlled himself. He grabbed a shirt from the floor - his, thankfully - and pulled it on as he walked to the door.
"Stay there my bunny…." he told Rumi. "I will handle the intruders."
He stepped out, closing the bedroom door with a quiet, final click before heading to the entrance. He swung the door open, his expression a mask of 'Underground Hero' neutrality.
"You would better be selling sothing life-changing." Dabi began. "...because you just woke up a very angry–"
He stopped.
Standing on the landing was Toshinori Yagi, looking particularly gaunt in the morning light, his oversized suit hanging off his fra like a yellow shroud.
And beside him was the kid from yesterday - Izuku Midoriya, dressed in a tracksuit that looked brand new, holding a notebook nervously.
"...." The silence that followed was heavy. Both Toshinori and Midoriya had clearly heard Rumi's loud, decidedly non-civilian swearing through the door monts ago.
Midoriya's face was bright red. His eyes were locked on the ground like he had heard sothing he shouldn't have.
Toshinori, for his part, had the decency to look embarrassed.
"Young Dabi." Toshinori managed, his voice thin. "I... apologize for the intrusion. We didn't realize you had... company."
Dabi leaned against the doorfra, his gaze shifting to Midoriya.
He didn't see a boy; he saw a biological disaster waiting to happen.
His enhanced vision scanned the kid: minimal muscle mass, zero bone density reinforcent, and a nervous system that looked like it would fry under a 5% OFA load.
"So. This is the one." Dabi said, his voice devoid of judgnt but heavy with cold, analytical weight.
Midoriya shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny.
He still hadn't recognized who Dabi was - not surprising since there were barely any photos of him online and he wasn't in his Hero gear.
All he saw was a lean, intimidating man in sweatpants with faint, silver surgical lines tracing his jaw - soone who radiated a quiet, terrifying level of aura.
"Yes. He is the one I have chosen as my successor." Toshinori said, his hollow eyes settling on Dabi.
"Nighteye isn't going to like him much," Dabi said, folding his arms.
The na made Toshinori stiffen almost imperceptibly.
Dabi noticed - but pressed on. "And I doubt you ca all this way just to introduce him to ."
Toshinori explained. "As you can see his vessel isn't ready. The physical training I have planned will build strength, but that alone won't be enough. He must learn how to move properly, how to endure strain, and how to keep himself intact when the power threatens to tear him apart."
He took a breath, the weight of the request hanging in the air. "Can you teach him your breathing technique?"
"...." Silence.
Dabi remained silent.
He looked at the boy - the Quirkless 'Zero' who was about to carry the weight of the world.
If he taught Midoriya even a fraction of the [Total Concentration] rhythm, it wouldn't just help him hold One For All, it might fundantally change the boy's biological ceiling.
The [Sun Breathing], and [Total Concentration Breathing]-
-are the techniques he had revealed to All Might and the few closest to him, which he 'invented' by his own.
In the eyes of the few who knew the truth - Toshinori, Recovery Girl, and Gran Torino - [Total Concentration Breathing] wasn't just a martial art.
It was a manual life-support system. They saw it as the miraculous foundation that had allowed Dabi to bridge the gap between a terminal diagnosis and Pro Hero status.
And obviously, asking him to teach it to soone else would not be a matter of small favour. Especially be unaware whether it will work for others too.
"You want to teach him my breathing technique?" Dabi said slowly.
In truth, he wasn't even sure it could be taught. Very few people knew about it. He had tried explaining it to Rumi once - that had lasted less than a day. Her temperant wasn't built for disciplined breath control.
Toshinori nodded. "If it increases Young Midoriya's chances of withstanding One For All, it's worth attempting."
"Toshinori, I began that thod when I was already dying. My body had nothing left to preserve. He's healthy. If he misjudges the cadence even once, he could collapse his lungs from the inside."
Silence stretched again.
Behind the door, the rhythmic thud of Rumi's boots hitting the floor signaled she was finally upright and likely ard with a foul mood.
Midoriya was still standing there nervously, clearly lost in this conversation about breathing techniques and quirks and things he didn't fully understand yet.
Truthfully, Dabi had already considered this possibility long before All Might approached him.
If the boy committed fully, his vessel might one day beco strong enough to endure the inevitable confrontation with All For One.
Dabi shifted his gaze back to Toshinori.
"How long." he asked evenly. "Until he inherits One For All?"
"Ten months." Toshinori said.
"Ten months..." Dabi calculated.
It was a brutal window, but if the boy survived the initial buildup of month one, the results would be unprecedented.
"That's actually doable. If he is dedicated."
"I will work hard!" Midoriya burst out, his voice cracking slightly. "I will do whatever it takes! If this breathing technique can help beco a Hero, I will master it! I promise!"
Dabi looked at the kid. He recognized that look - it was the sa manic defiance he had seen in his own reflection for years.
"Fine…" Dabi said. ""I will teach you. But I am warning you: this isn't a 'technique' you learn in a gym. It's a Neurological Overdrive. Your blood will feel like it's boiling, your ribs like they're being crushed from within, and the second you try to stop because it hurts, you've already failed."
"I am still determined!" Midoriya insisted.
"We will see." Dabi turned to Toshinori. "I assu All Might already has a physical training regin planned?"
"Cleaning Dagobah Beach." Toshinori answered. "Removing all the debris. It will build muscle and stamina."
For a second, he stared at him, a bit dumbfounded.
"That will work for a solid base, I guess." Dabi nodded. "I will layer the breathing work on top of that, along with foundational kata. We start simple, then increase the strain gradually." He paused, glancing back at Midoriya. "Though by the end of the first month, he's going to hate ."
"I won't!" Midoriya protested.
"Yes, you will." Dabi said with absolute certainty. "Everyone does at first."
The door behind him opened.
Rumi stepped out, now dressed in her usual casual clothes - cargo pants and a tank top. Her hair was still ssy and her ears were pinned back in annoyance, but she looked more presentable.
"Who is the sprout?" she asked, her gaze landing on Midoriya. She acknowledged Toshinori with a brief nod - she still only knew him as the gaunt assistant to All Might, but she respected his presence.
"Miss Mirko." Toshinori greeted, bowing slightly. "My apologies for the early disturbance."
"Whatever." Rumi waved it off, her eyes narrowing as she studied Midoriya. She caught the edge of the conversation. "You want to be trained by 'Patchwork' here? Kid, you're in for a world of hell. You look like you're made of wet cardboard. He is going to tear you apart."
"Patchwork?" Midoriya asked, confused.
"It's a nickna." Dabi said quickly. "Ignore it."
Rumi smirked, then stretched. "I am getting breakfast. You want anything?"
"Coffee. Black."
"Since when do you drink it black?"
"Since you keep putting too much sugar in it."
"That's because you have no taste." She turned her sharp, crimson gaze toward Toshinori and Midoriya. "You two? I am hitting that diner down the block. They have protein shakes that actually taste like food."
The pair politely declined, still visibly shell-shocked by the dosticity of the Number Five Hero and the scarred enigma standing before them.
Rumi shrugged, her long ears twitching as she tapped away at her phone, retreating into the apartnt while muttering a debate between olets and extra-thick bacon.
An awkward silence fell.
"So." Dabi said eventually. "When do we start?"
"Is tomorrow too soon?" Toshinori asked.
"Tomorrow works. Dagobah Beach at 5 AM. Bring twice as much water as you think you will usually need."
Midoriya swallowed nervously but nodded with determination.
"One more thing." Dabi added, looking at the kid seriously.
"The breathing technique I am going to teach you, [Sun Breathing] - isn't a quirk but disciplined physical conditioning that pushes your body to its limits, and if you try to 'improvise' or force a higher output before your lungs are ready, you won't just pass out - you will cause internal damage, so you follow my cadence exactly or we stop, understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Midoriya chirped, snapping into a rigid salute.
Dabi winced, running a hand through his hair. "Don't call sir. I am only six years older than you; I don't need the mid-life crisis."
"Dabi-san!"
"...Close enough."
Toshinori offered a small, weary smile that carried a decade's worth of hope. "Thank you, Young Dabi. You are giving him the armor he needs for the storm ahead."
"Yeah, well." Dabi shrugged. "Let's see if the kid survives the first week before you start thanking ."
They exchanged final nods. As Toshinori led the boy away, Dabi watched Midoriya imdiately begin scribbling into his notebook with a speed that bordered on manic. The kid was already analyzing a technique he hadn't even felt yet.
Dabi stood there for a mont after they were gone, staring at nothing.
He had just agreed to train Izuku Midoriya. One of the future greatest Heroes. The kid who would one day surpass All Might.
"Well." he muttered to himself. "This is going to be interesting."
Behind him, Rumi called out: "Your coffee's getting cold!"
Did she seriously just jump the balcony and sprint back in three minutes?
Dabi shook his head, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. He turned and stepped back into the apartnt, shutting the door on the looming fate of the world.
For now, he had breakfast to eat and a Rabbit girlfriend who didn't take kindly to being ignored.
The tiline could wait until tomorrow.
.
….
[To be continued…]
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